Book picks similar to
The Farm at Peppertree Crossing by Leonie Kelsall


aussie-authors
romance
rural-romance
contemporary-fiction

Bottlebrush Creek


Maya Linnell - 2020
    And with each passing month, she feels her relationship with fly-in, fly-out boyfriend Rob Jones slipping through her fingers.When Rob faces retrenchment, and the most fabulous fixer-upper comes onto the market, Angie knows this derelict weatherboard cottage will be the perfect project to draw their little family together.There's just one catch: the 200-acre property is right next door to Rob's parents in south-west Victoria.It doesn't take long for rising tensions to set a wedge between the hard-working couple. Angie and Rob have to find out the hard way whether their grand design will draw them closer together or be the very thing that tears them apart.A sparkling rural romance of changing relationships and family ties from the bestselling author of Wildflower Ridge.'A heart-warming, funny and poignant story about the joys and heartbreaks of country living. A winner.' Victoria Purman, bestselling author of The Land Girls

The Farmer’s Friend


Fiona McArthur - 2021
    ‘Farmers stick together. I like it.’Jed and Gracie’s move to Featherwood brings big dreams and open hearts, despite the drought around them. The ready-made rural store even comes with an ancient homestead overlooking the river, albeit one requiring some TLC. Gracie is expecting, and they’re eager to put down family roots in the tiny community.Midwife Nell has fled her life in Sydney, hoping to start afresh on a small farm away from prying eyes and gossip. She strives to go unnoticed, but that proves near impossible when she meets charismatic Gracie and Jed, and the unpredictable, attractive Liam, who has as much emotional baggage as Nell does herself.Jed’s store becomes the meeting place for the town’s colourful characters, people who’d do anything for their neighbours and friends. As Gracie’s due date draws close, tensions rise between her and Jed when his impulsiveness strains their precarious financial situation. As a bushfire ravages the region, the whole town comes under threat, putting relationships and lives on the line.Can quiet achievers, unexpected heroes, and a valley of part-time fire-fighters and farmers help Featherwood rise again?By the bestselling author of The Bush Telegraph comes a moving and uplifting Australian drama about what it really means to be a community – and learning that best friends can also make the best family.

Snowy Mountains Daughter (a Bundilla Novel, #1)


Alissa Callen - 2021
    A new close-knit community where romance can blossom. A compelling story of homecoming and family secrets from bestselling Australian author Alissa Callen. The road home isn't for the faint-hearted...Peony flower farmer Clancy Parker was born and bred in the Australian high country. Small-town Bundilla is the only place she will ever truly belong, even if staying means remaining alone. The man she'd loved is long gone and single men are as rare as a summer snowfall.As soon as he could, street artist Heath MacBride escaped his complicated family and traded mountain peaks for city concrete. Now a commission to paint a mural on Bundilla's water tower brings him home. It doesn't matter how long he's been away, the animosity of his cattleman father hasn't waned. As soon as the water tower is painted, he will be gone.But between steadfast Clancy, who'd once been his muse, a free-spirited kelpie who becomes his shadow and a corrosive family secret, his best laid plans disintegrate. When life again backs him into a corner, will he have no choice but to leave or will he and Clancy have the second chance they'd each thought would forever remain out of reach?

Savannah's Secret


Mandy Magro - 2021
    the truth.Set in the heart of the Australian countryside comes a compelling romance with a touch of suspense from bestselling author Mandy Magro.Savannah Garret remains resolute in testifying as the sole eyewitness in Brisbane's most dangerous criminal case. For safety, the police have furnished her with a new identity and instructions to keep to herself. With a shiny new driver's licence in hand and job as a barmaid lined up, this die-hard city girl finds herself stepping off a bus and into the desolate street of the small country town she's now to call home.Ash Sullivan has it all, money at his fingertips, his own property, and a successful chopper mustering business. But when it comes to love, he's failed miserably. Bitter experience has taught him that if he is ever lucky enough to meet a special woman he can fall for again, she has to be upfront from the get-go, no matter what.These are two people, as different as chalk and cheese, who were never meant to meet until fate intervened. Will they grow to be the person each other needs? Or will their differences drive them apart?

The Sister’s Gift


Barbara Hannay - 2020
    However, this comes at a hefty price – an unexpected rift in her family and the loss of the man she loves.Decades later, Freya is divorced, childless and homeless, at rock bottom after losing everything she's worked for. When her estranged niece, Billie, offers sanctuary, managing the family restaurant on beautiful Magnetic Island, Freya can hardly refuse. Billie has never understood the tension between her mother and her aunt and now, with a newly broken heart, she is nursing a family secret of her own. All three women come together under the tropical Queensland skies, but can they let go of past regrets, or will old tensions tear them further apart?By the bestselling author of Meet Me in Venice, this is a moving and inspiring novel in a stunning setting about choices and consequences and the redemptive power of love.

Lonely in Longreach


Eva Scott - 2020
    When he's not working on his farm, he's trying to figure out how to connect with his teenage son Levi.But Levi is about to finish high school, and he has big plans to move to Sydney for University with his best friend Maddie. If only he didn't feel so guilty about abandoning his dad. Maddie has her own reasons for wanting to go to Sydney and she's not going to let Levi's dad ruin her future happiness. Mr Costello needs a girlfriend and, with her talent for matchmaking, Maddie is the girl to make it happen. By the time Mr C figures out what she's done, surely he'll be too in love to be angry.Journalist Sarah Lewis has a good job, a nice boyfriend and a safe life in Sydney. Though sometimes she wonders if life has more to offer than nice and safe. When she starts working on an article about finding love in the outback she finds herself asking whether journalists should become this invested in their research. But there's just something about Lonely in Longreach. Could it be that the man behind the dating profile is the key to the passion she has been looking for?Sleepless in Seattle meets rural Australia in this fresh romantic comedy about optimism, online dating and love at first sight.

The Last of the Apple Blossom


Mary-Lou Stephens - 2021
    A sweeping, big-hearted Australian family saga for readers of Judy Nunn and Victoria Purman. 7 February, 1967. Walls of flame reduce much of Tasmania to ash.Young schoolteacher Catherine Turner rushes to the Huon Valley to find her family's apple orchard destroyed, her childhood home in ruins and her brother dead. Despite her father's declaration that a woman will never run the orchard, Catherine resolves to rebuild the family business.After five sons, Catherine's friend and neighbour, Annie Pearson, is overjoyed by the birth of a much longed for daughter. As Annie and her husband Dave work to repair the damage to their orchard, Dave's friend Mark pitches in, despite the fact that Annie wants him gone. Mark has moved his family to the valley to escape his life in Melbourne, but his wife has disappeared leaving chaos in her wake and their young son Charlie in Mark's care.Catherine becomes fond of Charlie, whose strange upbringing has left him shy and withdrawn. However, the growing friendship between Mark and Catherine not only scandalises the small community but threatens a secret Annie is desperate to keep hidden. Through natural disasters, personal calamities and the devastating collapse of the apple industry, Catherine, Annie and those they love battle to save their livelihoods, their families and their secrets.PRAISE FOR THE LAST OF THE APPLE BLOSSOM:'What a cracker of a debut! A beautiful story of family and orchards, of secrets and love and forgiveness' - Victoria Purman, author of The Women's Pages'The crisp prose sparkles and the characters stay with you long after the story ends' - Lauren Chater, author of Gulliver's Wife'Timeless yet also telling an achingly familiar story to us here and now, this is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, triumph and tragedy' -Karen Brooks, author of The Good Wife of Bath

The Wrong Callahan


Karly Lane - 2018
    He was in the army then - a lifetime ago. Linc had always been the unsettled Callahan, looking for danger, the one who couldn't wait to leave the family farm.This time he was back for his little sister, Hadley's, wedding. From far and wide, the Callahan relatives were streaming toward Stringybark Creek.Linc's little brother, Griffin, was the steady son, the one who stayed at home, the one who did the right things. And now, the one who had feelings for city-girl, Cash Sullivan.For Cash, the offer to manage her best friend's luxury beauty spa tucked away in the country had come at the right time. She knew she needed to make smarter choices in her life, starting with the men she dated, and an enforced break in the country seemed the right way to consider her options.When Linc sets eyes on Cash at a family dinner, their swift attraction floors him. But Cash is his brother's girlfriend...what was he thinking?As Linc, Griff and Cash form an uneasy triangle, each of them have personal demons to face before they can open their hearts.

The Vet from Snowy River


Stella Quinn - 2021
    A rebellious teenager. And meddling but well-meaning townsfolk. Vera gets more than she bargains for when she runs off to a new life in the country ... A fresh and funny rural romance, perfect for readers of Alissa Callen and Rachael Johns.Vera De Rossi no longer believes in love ...And thanks to her ex-boyfriend- she's also broke, jobless, and staring down the barrel at a court case that could land her in prison. Turning to her talent for baking, Vera opens a cafe in Hanrahan, a cosy tourist town in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains.Josh Cody, once Hanrahan's golden boy, escaped sixteen years ago with gossip hard on his heels and a pregnant girlfriend in tow. Now he's back: a qualified veterinarian - and a single dad with a lot to prove. A new start and a grumpy teenage daughter ... it's a lot to juggle, and there's no room in his life for further complications. But that's before he walks into The Billy Button Cafe and meets its prickly owner ...Reeling from the past, Vera has no intention of being sidetracked by the hot vet with his killer smile. But fate has a way of tripping up our best intentions and between a stray cat and a busybody with a heart of gold, this is a town - a family - unlike any other. And, whether Vera wants it or not, is there anything a family won't do to help one of its own?Funny, feel-good and entertaining, a stellar romance debut from an award-winning new talent.

All We Have Is Now


Kaneana May - 2021
    After five years, their bustling wellness centre is demanding expansion. A beautiful federation house nestled among the picturesque backdrop of their small town is the perfect place to grow their business. But they don't count on their personal lives getting in the way.Practical and pragmatic, Olive keeps her past hidden from her friends. But when an old high-school flame shows up, the secrets she's worked so hard to bury threaten to tear her carefully constructed world apart.Bree is the fun-loving one, although family tensions lurk behind her free-spirited facade. The reappearance of her troubled sister Winnie brings Bree's priorities into sharp focus. Will she have to shelve her own happiness to save her sister?Kind and maternal to all those around her, Elsie's role as the practice's counsellor comes naturally. But when tragedy strikes, her world tumbles down like a house of cards.With everything they've built in disarray, their friendship is on the line...

The House on Burra Burra Lane


Jennie Jones - 2013
    Ethan Granger — and the firing line for gossip. It was hardly a ‘date’ but sparks of the sensual kind are difficult to smother in a community of only 87 people. Now there’s a bet running on how long she’ll stay and what she’ll get up to while she’s in town.Ethan has his own issues — Sammy’s presence in his childhood home brings with it painful recollections of family scandals and a bad‐boy youth. When the gossip around them heightens, his life is suddenly a deck of cards spread on the table for all to see. Then Sammy's past catches up with her... and it looks like all bets are off.

Up on Horseshoe Hill


Penelope Janu - 2019
    Her wit is as sharp as a knife. She is one of my absolute must-read authors.' Victoria Purman, bestselling Australian author A kiss can change your life ...Jemima Kincaid loves her home, her horses and her job as a farrier. Life has not been kind to her, but Jemima is happy in the close-knit rural community of Horseshoe Hill, which rallied around in her hour of need. Even so, she is fiercely independent and will never rely on anyone again.Particularly a man like Finn Blackwood.An infuriatingly attractive geneticist and wild animal vet, Finn threatens not only the serenity of Jemima's present, but that of the future she has so carefully mapped out. But as their paths continue to cross, she finds her attraction to Finn impossible to counter, even as the trauma of her past threatens to undo her. Finn is fascinated by Jemima's solitary nature and unique vulnerabilities but Jemima knows all about loss and how to avoid it. Don't let anyone get close in the first place ...As the past begins to cast long shadows, Jemima and Finn discover that a kiss can bring worlds together-or tear them apart. Will they finally face their fears and find love on Horseshoe Hill?

Undara


Annie Seaton - 2019
    A page-turning new eco-adventure for readers who love Di Morrissey. When entomologist Emlyn Rees arrives at Hidden Valley she wants nothing more than to escape her marriage breakdown by burying herself in the research team's hunt for new species of insects in the depths of the dramatic Undara lava tubes. However, little does she suspect she will be the key to solving a mystery that's more than one hundred years old.Travis Carlyle is initially resistant to letting some city folks tramp over his cattle station, but soon the researchers' findings and a growing friendship with Emlyn bring opportunities to turn around his struggling farm. With a broken marriage behind him and children to care for, Travis needs to plan for the future and this could be his family's best chance.But when things start going wrong for the farm and around the dig site, Emlyn and Travis are at a loss to understand why. Are they cursed with bad luck, or is there a more sinister force at play? Are the tall tales of enigmatic stockman Bluey turning true? As the unseen saboteur grows bolder, Emlyn and Travis are caught in a race against time to save the station ... and their lives.

Sapphire Falls


Fleur McDonald - 2016
    Though Fiona decides to keep farming their successful property, rumours that she intends to sell keep circulating.When Detective Dave Burrows arrives to sign off on the investigation into Eddie's death his suspicions are aroused by some strange anomalies at the scene. As Dave becomes increasingly convinced that something sinister is going on, Fiona finds herself dealing with a series of disasters on the farm...By the bestselling author of Crimson Dawn, this suspenseful novel about a woman fighting to preserve her husband's dream and a detective determined to uncover the truth will keep you guessing til the very last page.

The Goldminer's Sister


Alison Stuart - 2020
    Will it lead her to love ... or death? A suspenseful romance set on the turbulent goldfields of 1870s Australia, for readers of The Postmistress and The Woman in the Green Dress.'There are people in this town with the gleam of gold in their eyes and cold steel in their hearts.'1873. Eliza Penrose arrives in the gold mining town of Maiden's Creek in search of her brother, planning to make a new life for herself. Instead she finds a tragic mystery - and hints of betrayals by those closest to her.Mining engineer Alec McLeod left Scotland to escape the memory of his dead wife and child. Despite the best efforts of the eligible ladies of Maiden's Creek, Alec is determined never to give his heart again.As lies and deceit threaten Eliza's life, Alec steps in - although he has problems of his own, as he risks his livelihood and those he holds dear to oppose the dangerous work practices at the Maiden's Creek Mine.When disaster draws the pieces of the puzzle together, Eliza and Alec must save each other - but is it too late?